Little Lab of Horrors
by AshleeTheDragon
Summary: Sasuke Uchiha is a lonely, but very successful botanist. Watch as one plant turns his life completely around. SASUNARUSASU, Mature Themes. More inside. UPDATE 9/18/08
1. Enter Sasuke

Hello everyone! Ashers is here for her latest installment of fanfiction.

Like I've previewed in my other story, this plot isn't something I've ever seen...in any type of show. So! I hope you find this one unique and enjoyable!!

Oh, also, you have to be open minded in this story. You'll figure it out soon enough, but please don't go "EW!" or be all weirded out because of what everyone is in the story. If you're not interested, don't read any further. Simple enough?

Anyways, read on!

--

Sasuke sighed for the fifth time that day, not too pleased with this latest news about his project. If there was such thing as God, the big man certainly wasn't looking out for him.

"Dr. Uchiha, the specimens you ordered won't be here until next week. I tried calling around and moving the date forward, but.."

A pale hand was held up, signaling for silence. "That's alright," The raven haired man spoke to his assistant, "I've got plenty of paperwork to occupy me until then." Watching his young associate leave his office with another apology, Sasuke leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling, disappointed that the work he wanted to start couldn't be done as soon as he had originally hoped.

Dr. Sasuke Uchiha was one of the most successful botanists of the company he worked for. He was never supposed to be an actual botanist, though. True, it was a family business, but his father was the head CO, and had insisted both his sons worked in the actual management rather than the plant study. But Sasuke decided to leave the 'ruling' to his egotistical brother and father. He didn't want any of that.

No, Sasuke's department was the study of rare and exotic plants. His focus in his work always seemed to help him discover the most mind boggling species. He rarely went out and actually _found_ them of course, he had personal field workers to do that for him. But he did all the analysis and tests, and his discoveries were what really mattered. After all, he once discovered a plant that actually helped reduce diabetes in people. He was praised by everyone that time, and had an extremely hard time shaking off the press. Fame wasn't always glamorous.

Oh well, at least it made his father proud of him—a rare occurrence.

Pushing his glasses against his nose, he sighed, turning to the paperwork on his desk. Well, there was no point in worrying about it. He did have other work to do, anyways. Unfortunately, there were documents to be approved, paperwork to be filled out, reports to be completed. They certainly weren't his favorite thing to do, but there was no way around it.

The phone rang, suddenly interrupting his thoughts. Sighing and tapping his pen against the desk in annoyance, he reached over, answering and cradling it between head and shoulder as he wrote some more. "Sasuke Uchiha's office."

"If I didn't know you never bother to look at your caller ID, I'd be offended by you detachment to your dear older brother."

The raven haired man sighed. "Itachi. What do you want? Don't you have some important things to do?"

"Probably not as many as you, since you're the ever so popular one," his brother's smooth voice spoke, "But I digress. Apparently some package was dropped off earlier today by an unknown source. I figured you might be interested and take it off our hands."

Sasuke raised a brow, though no one could see him do so. "Is there a catch to this?"

A sigh. "I'm just trying to look out for your career, outoto, not that you need it. Well, come downstairs and pick it up, if you want it. After noon, I'll just pass it off to some other, more willing worker. Until then..."

The dial tone was heard afterwards. The youngest Uchiha hung up, clearly irritated. He hated it when his brother always teased him like that, always treating him like a kid. It didn't matter how old they would ever get, Itachi would probably never grow out of it.

But, the temporary annoyance aside, he failed to forget the purpose of the call. A mystery package, huh...?

'Well..it'll be more interesting than paperwork,' was his motivation as he pushed himself out of his chair to go beat the others to it.

--

"So it seems your interest was peaked." Itachi smirked at the sight of his younger brother in the doorway, looking anything but pleased.

"Shut up," was all the other said as he crossed the room, not bothering to return the casual smirk thrown at him. After a quick survey, his eyes flicked to the large, four foot high crate sitting by the elder's desk. "Is that it?"

"Yes. If you don't mind, please take it away so I don't have to worry about it."

"Are you sure it's not a bomb? Did you even check?" Sasuke huffed, moving over to kick at the thing with his foot, hoping it wouldn't suddenly leave him without a leg.

The long haired man stared over his glasses. "Sasuke...who would want to bomb a bunch of scientists that study plants for a living?"

"Point taken." Sasuke rolled his eyes, huffing as he lifted the package off the ground. "This thing is heavier than I thought..." After a beat of silence, another sigh of breath. "Well thanks for the offer to help out your sibling- I'll just be leaving now," he threw sarcastically over his shoulder.

"Wait." The serious tone immediately halted the young Uchiha, who looked over his shoulder again. He never used that kind of tone in front of him...Itachi stared back, face grave and serious. "I just wanted to tell you..." A devilish smirk, "Have a nice day, outoto!"

Sasuke didn't stop cussing even when he finally lugged the damn parcel up to his quarters. Like most of the scientists here, his office was split, one side like an actual office for paperwork, the other more like a miniature greenhouse for his plants. Letting out a strained breath as he slid his new prize onto his workbench, he flipped on the light overhead and stared intently at the wooden box as if that would help answer any questions he had.

Well, whatever the hell it was, it sure weighed like bricks.

Grabbing a pry-bar from his toolbox, he went to work tearing the lid off the thing. They came off easy for him under the work, since Sasuke was used to de-crating his plants. Soon the lid popped off, free from nails. Pushing off the lid and out of the way, he stared into the crate, a bit shocked and unsure of what to make of what was inside.

It was a lone plant, very large by what he could tell. The entire make-up of it was pitch black, so dark you couldn't really tell what it even looked like. On top of that, it seemed to have died, curled up on itself and looking like a pile of vines and large leaves. It's clay pot was rather large, about four feet in diameter, and was filled with dirt. Looking around, a piece of paper in the crate also caught Sasuke's eye. Hesitantly, he picked it up, unfolding it and scanning over the words.

_This plant is useless to me. Maybe your gardeners can find better use for it._

Gardeners...the sender must not have a large horizon of vocabulary, the Uchiha wondered, staring back down at the plant again. He reached down, gently pushing his fingers against the vines and the leaves. They felt sturdy and healthy...not dying at all. Then why was it wilted? Perhaps that's how the plant grew...? Carefully taking the pot out of its box, he moved the heavy parcel over to his lab table, frowning at the strange vegetation. What to do with this? He still wasn't sure if he should keep it, or just throw the thing away. Pulling on some rubber gloves, he carefully picked up some of the vines and moved them to drape over the edge of the pot, trying to untangle this viney web. After removing most of the heavy vines, he was startled to see a large flower head hiding underneath everything.

Although most of it was pitch black as well the petal tips were dyed a bit dark red. The petals, most likely from lack of sunlight, were closed tightly into a bud. Sasuke was awed by the size of the plant. The bud was bigger than his closed fist!

Well, by Sasuke's calculations, the plant was healthy...maybe it just needed some water and sunlight to perk it up. After all, some flowers closed up at night, and this one probably hasn't seen any kind of light in a few days. So, he lifted the pot back up and put it over on his table where a large window lay overhead, letting in golden rays on various plants already there. There was already an automatic watering system, so he didn't have to worry about that. Staring at his newest specimen one last time, he decided it was best to just leave it there and go finish the paperwork.

It's not like these plants were going anywhere.

--To be Continued--

R/R! I shall update every Wednesday, that is a garuntee


	2. What A Plant

Another chapter for you. Also, if you didn't know, I'll be updating every WEDNESDAY. So, keep in touch.

--

"This plant seems to be more trouble than it looks," The elder Uchiha stated, staring at the flat plant.

Sasuke sighed. It had been a few days since he had first received the thing, and the problem was it hadn't perked up in the slightest bit. There was plenty of sunlight, water, and food. But it didn't seem to want to leave its cozy bed of vines.

"I think that's how it grows," The younger one said, glancing up from a form he was currently writing out, eyes watching his brother as he made his own observations.

"I believe your right. It's healthy after all." The taller man threw a trademark smirk. "Maybe your presence just makes it want to hide."

"..." An angry silence. "...Is that all you came to say?"

Itachi chuckled, going over and setting down a tray of something. Sasuke glanced up, surprised to find...fishcakes. "You should thank me, younger brother. I went out of my way to buy you some Naruto. No need to thank me, of course." He waved slightly, walking out of the room.

Shaking his head, the young raven glanced at the fishcakes, then over at his strange plant. Sighing, he picked up his food and went over to the lab table, staring down at the strange plant he had. The plant sat there, the rose bud tilted up at if peering at him, just like when he first pulled that box lid off and looked inside. It had been staring right back. Shaking his head, he was about to eat when the phone rang.

Groaning, he walked back over to his desk and picked it up. "Yes?"

"Mr. Uchiha, there's some papers that you are supposed to pick up in Itachi's office."

_Hmph...Itachi, is that why you tried to sweet-talk me with the fishcakes? _He thought, dismissing the person on the phone and stalking off outside his abode. Of course his brother would do something like make him walk all the way to his office when it was inconvenient. Just because he could.

And it wasn't just some papers, it was more like a folder of them. The older brother had just shrugged at the heated glare and said, "I'm not the one assigning papers."

He got himself a cup of joe on the way up, he damn well needed it. And it cheered his mood up to see the intern almost piss his pants at the harsh order to get the coffee. Yes, he smirked to himself, that had been fun.

Heading back into his office, he carefully balanced the papers in one hand and the hot beverage in the other. He grumbled to himself, walking to where his work was awaiting him, sparing a glance at the plant-

And the sight that he met with caused him to halt abruptly, eyes wide and unable to process what was going on before him.

His mystery plant was sitting there, as normal, but the large head was perched up, looking towards the left. And one of its vines was...actually moving! It traveled down the length of its pot and over to where his fishcakes lay, the tendril slowly wrapping around one and pulling it towards the plant. It pulled it up to the face of the plant, and the bud suddenly opened into a large mouth, ready to eat the Naruto. And it wasn't even like a venus fly trap mouth...it was, animal-like, with a tongue, throat, and even saliva dripping along the edges...not to mention those sharp canine teeth as they bit a piece off the treat it snuck over.

Sasuke, a bit out of it, let his fingers loose enough to drop the coffee onto the floor, causing it to shatter and spill everywhere.

As the loud noise filled the room, the plant instantly froze. Then, it started to curl into that tight ball of vines as it did when it first arrived, the petals closing off that hidden bud, and mouth, again.

"W-wait!"

As Sasuke stumbled over to the animate vegetation, the creature didn't cease to keep hidden with its vines. But, the vine holding the half-eaten fishcake was held up, presenting itself to the botanist as he neared. This confused the raven haired man. Was it...trying to apologize?

He slowly reached out, grabbing it from the tendril. And just like that, the vine pulled itself into the cacoon of plant, officially ending any movement. Sasuke stared disbelivingly at the cake in his hands, then at the plant, not sure what just happened.

But, it did really did happen. Sasuke Uchiha vowed to himself that it would not be the only time either.

--

After that day, his weeks with the plant were not as progressive as he'd hoped.

Between paperwork and other assignments, he tried to get the plant to move again. He had went out and bought fishcakes everyday, and set them in front of the pot, watching. But it didn't matter, because it didn't move, or even twitch. Sometimes Sasuke would sit there for hours, watching it, and it never even inched a bit. And it really pissed the botanist off.

Maybe he had been crazy, imagining the plant had moved. Maybe he was working too hard. it had been a while since he had a break. Maybe he needed one? He mused as he came back from a quick bathroom break, glancing over at the plant. It still wasn't moving. But..

One of the fishcakes was gone.

He stared at the empty space in the packaging, then at the plant, as if daring it to moved. No such luck. Well...it at least proved that he wasn't completely insane. The fishcake was gone, right?

And so he decided to not let it get to his head too badly. He worked his days as usual, and he would bring in Narutos in the morning and set them in front of the plant, not bothering to look. It seemed to be a habit. And sometimes when he left to go take a bathroom break, or when he was really immersed in paperwork, he'd look and find that some of them were 'missing'. So he continued, thinking that maybe if he fed it enough treats, it would earn his trust and move for him.

And maybe he was just crazy for thinking that a plant had a brain.

Sasuke sighed as he brooded over more papers, always glancing up once in a while, disappointed that the plant was still playing hide and seek. This was hopeless. He needed to use the bathroom though, and most likely the damn plant would eat one and pretend it didn't even budge later.

But as he stood up, he decided to have a change of plans.

He walked towards his the door past his lab area, the way he had to go when picking up tool or supply shipments. He went through, and closed the door behind him. Well, not completely. He left a tiny crack open, and quietly he peered through the crack, watching the oh so innocent and normal plant with annoyance. He was also glad it wasn't a public hallway. The last thing he needed was people to stop and stare at him, wondering why the hell he was huddled up against the door peering inside.

A few seconds passed, and the raven felt a little silly for doing this, but he stopped thinking as the plant moved.

It slowly poked its head up, turning itself towards the door as if to make sure it was really alone. After a second, it turned away. Satisfied, the vines leisurely slid out of the pot, reaching down and snatching up a fishcake, the creature munching on it.

Quietly, he slipped the door open, and with inaudible footsteps he approached the back of the creature, glad it was facing away from him. He watched as it almost seemed lazy with his movements, clearly used to eating those fishcakes. The thing must have really liked them, the way it gobbled them up.

"Naruto..huh?"

The plant froze again. And Sasuke frowned, wondering what it would do. It didn't curl up, bit it did wrap the petals around the head again, closing off the bud. It tilted down, as if hiding and ashamed, then the tendril with the treat held itself to Sasuke. It felt guilty, he supposed. Maybe that's why it always hid from him...?

"Look, I don't care if you eat them, alright? I'm not mad." What the fuck was he doing, even talking to a plant anyways...

The thing seemed to perk up at that. It slowly unshielded its head, and with a hesitant turn towards the botanist, it began to eat again, a bit less enthusiastic than before.

Sasuke marveled at the thing, a bit confused and..surprised. "Can you understand me?"

The plant continued to eat, turning its head and at least acknowledging that the Uchiha was speaking. That didn't really say if he understood english completely.

He decided not to bother, and instead studied what the plant look like when it wasn't closed up. The head looked like a large muzzle almost, a soft green color. The flower petals were black with red tips on the outside, but now that they were open, on the inside they were a glorious shade of sunny yellow. It was startling, since he was used to seeing the plant curled up. He also took a notice that the head, plus the two of the longer top petals, looked almost like a fox, with ears and a muzzle.

"Hm..." he watched a tendril reach to check if there was anymore to eat. "You really likes those, huh? Naruto?"

The plant tilted its head, not seeming to understand.

"That's what I'll call you..Naruto." The Uchiha told himself, sighing and rubbing his hand through his hair. He was relieved to finally have some kind of breakthrough in this. Maybe he could learn even more about this plant. Hell, this was already a breakthrough. This plant...it was so animated, and it had some form of intelligence. He would have to see how far the intelligence went, but he could do it.

He was Sasuke Uchiha, after all.

--

R/R


	3. Discovery

Whewt! Another chapter up...this is the first story I've been actually on-time with in a long time... although the fact that I have the first nine chapters in storage prolly helps...

Anyways, read on.

--

Naruto, for some reason, seemed to love books.

The plant had learned it was ok to move when the botanist was in the room, and to Sasuke's neverending fascination and amusement, it spent most of the time exploring anything and everything. Especially the books on the bookshelves. When Sasuke first saw one of the tendrils crawl over and grab a book, he immediately stopped what he was doing and observed the thing. It had opened it up to a random page, and seemed to enjoy running its vines across. And so the raven was dissapointed, convinced that the thing was just exploring, not actually trying to read.

Sasuke sometimes found the thing annoying, like at this very moment as he was writing some last minute things down before his shift ended. A thin, small tendril snuck up on him and had swiped his pen right out of his hand. He blinked, staring over at the plant, then down at the papers. "Naruto..." He sighed. "How am I supposed to work now?"

The pen was held up in defiance and mockery.

A few moments passed. Then, growling, he stood up and walked over to the plant, frowning as the vine extended itself so that it was too high in the air to reach. This plant...it was playing games with him. If he wasn't so busy at the moment he would have found it intruiging. But it wasn't intruiging when there was still paperwork to fill out and a plant was holding your pen, looking cheeky.

"Naruto, enough of your silly-..." One of the vines had suddenly reached up, inches from Sasuke's head. "...games."

The vine suddenly ran across the raven's face, gently but thoroughly, feeling out every curve and feature. Over his glasses, his eyes, nose, even lips. It almost tried to sneak its way in, but those lips clamped down and didn't move. Fed up, it then explored a bit down the nape of his neck, over his ears, and finally curling around his hair, feeling the texture. How unusual...he studied plants, but it seemed his latest one was studying him for a change. Satisfied, the plant pulled away, and lowered the other vine, holding out the pen in final compliance.

A bit dumbfounded, he took the pen, watching his plant's head loon to the side, as if bored already. Naruto searched some more, letting its 'fingers' dance across random things on the table.

Sensing something, Sasuke quickly went to his desk and returned with a notebook he used during observations. Opening it up to a blank page, he set it down in front of the plant, glad to see it was interested by the way it tilted its head down at the page. Sasuke slowly drew a circle as a demonstration, and then held the pen up, waiting to see what would happen. A thin vine came and gingerly wrapped around the writing utensil, holding it again. It sat there, as if unsure what to do, while Sasuke wondered if it would actually copy what he did. Could the plant even see...?

The pen reached down, and rested itself on the paper. Slowly, surely and a bit messy, the pen moved its way across, leaving a choppy line behind it. It continued until it had made a lopsided, lumpy, but definitely full circle. Naruto pulled back, studying what it had done for a moment, and then turned its looming fox head towards Sasuke, holding out the pen again.

Letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding, the raven stared at the paper in mild fascination. The plant understood and cooperated with his request. This was..amazing. Shaking his head, he opened his mouth to praise the miraculous creature-

But suddenly, Naruto froze completely, as if sensing something. Dropping the pen, it started to curl up, just like it usually did before, hiding itself from the world, and leaving the human officially confused. What was going on?

That's when he heard someone open his door.

"Sasuke-kuuuun!" a girl with bubblegum colored hair cried as she walked in, throwing her hips around a bit too much for anyone's tastes, and smiled none too innocently at the tall man. "Dr. Nawasaki said you'd be needing these lab results urgently." She held them over, batting her eyelashes.

"Oh, thank you.." he was always nervous when she was around. There was no hiding the fact that she wanted in his pants, and he didn't like women. But her determination wore him down. Taking the papers, he coughed and glanced away. "Is there anything else?"

Suddenly, her attention, for once, wasn't on him. "Wow, that's a weird looking one," she said, walking past the doctor and staring with fascination at Naruto, who didn't move a single inch. She poked it a few times, frowning "Where did you get it, Sasuke-kun? It's kinda ugly.."

A pale hand caught her wrist, the owner frowning a bit. "I think that's enough, Ms. Haruno. I think it's time for you to get back to work."

Pouting, she humphed and turned away, replying with an eager, "See you later, Sasuke-kun!!"

Well he was certainly glad to get rid of her, the Uchiha thought. Sighing, he watched as the plant slowly unwound itself, looking around frantically. "Sorry about that...she's not very bright."

And with that everything went back to normal. The plant sat comfortably as the Uchiha finished up his work. Afterwords, the raven locked up and left to go get some rest.

But the plant explored, even during the night.

Though it was dark in the room, the plant still managed to locate the books, and fiddle with his owner's files and papers. And when Naruto grew bored of these things, he'd find something else.

And when his head rotated and spied a large black box sitting comfortably in the corner of the room, the plant couldn't help but explore that as well.

--

"Everybody! Everbody, Mr. Snuffles, Big Bird...come see what Elmo did!"

Sasuke, was at the least, a bit confused as he entered his lab the next morning. He certainly wasn't expecting the mess of papers strewn about his desk, or the random books that decorated the floor. But what surprised him the most was that his little curious plant had located and figured out how to use his TV.

In short...Naruto was watching Sesame Street.

But apparently that wasn't the only gift waiting for the confused scientist.

The plant had immediately swiveled his head towards the sound of the man entering the room. Sasuke walked over to the plant and stared pitifully at the floor, or the sea of mess that he knew he would have to clean up all by himself. He opened his mouth to speak, but something cut him off.

"Sasuke-kuuuun!!"

Sasuke's eye twitched, and he briefly wondered what the hell the pink haired devil wanted this early in the morning. He spun around to the door.

And no one was there. He blinked, wondering what the hell was going on. Sakura had just called him, right?

"Sasuke-kuuuuuun!!"

No wait. That wasn't Sakura's voice. The voice he head was a boy's voice, a bit husky and energetic, but hoarse. He glanced around the room, not seeing anyone, before staring dumbly at the plant.

Naruto tilted his head, grinning with its mouth. "Sasuke-kun!"

"Na...Naru..??"

The plant turned its head away, staring back at the TV, absorbed in the sudden singing taking place. Sasuke was still in shock. He watched, eyes wide, as his plant actually started to sway and...sing along with Elmo.

"La laa la laa, la laa la laa, Naruuu's Sooong..."

Sasuke twitched. This was a bit too much for him. Hell, he hadn't even had his morning coffee yet. Walking over, he suddenly pushed the power button, ending the sing-a-long. "Good lord.."

"Sasuke-kun!!" The plant actually _whined_. It's tentacles were trying to sneak around the man who now stood guard in front of his precious entertainment.

"Naruto...can you understand me?"

The plant stopped, tilting its head. "...Sasuke-kun."

The Uchiha bit the inside of his cheek. It was possible that he knew the meaning of the words, but didn't know the words themselves. So, he tried something else.

"If you can understand what I'm saying, say yes. Yes."

One of Naruto's vines twitched, curling around in a loop. "...Y...es. Yes."

"You can understand me, Naruto?"

"...Yes."

Just to be sure..."What is your name?"

"N...Naru...to."

The Uchiha stared with disbelief at the feat happening here, backing away a bit and letting out a deep breath. This plant...not only was it intelligent, but to the point of actual language! He needed to share this discovery with his colleagues and...

And...but wait. What would happen to Naruto? He wondered vaguely, glancing at the plant. If he let loose the secret, he had no doubt that higher ups would take it for themselves to study. Maybe even ship it over the the government for testing..

No. Naruto was his plant, and so the secret was his also.

Sighing and running a hand through his hair, he spoke again. "Naruto, was is my name?"

"Sasuke-kun!!" Well, at least he could say that simple enough.

"Tch...no, it's not 'Sasuke-kun' you dobe. It's just Sasuke, ok? Sasuke...Sasuke only."

"Do..be?"

"...It means you aren't very smart."

The plant seemed to bristle at this. "Sasuke dobe!"

Sasuke laughed, not chuckled lightly, but actually full-blown laughed at the plants irritation. Naruto just tilted his large head again, and sat there quietly as the young man calmed down and shake his head at him. "I am just teasing you, idiot."

"Dobe!" Naruto turned around again, turning back on the TV. The raven sighed and shook his head, frowning a bit. "Here I am trying to have a conversation with a plant...I think I really do need some friends."

And the Uchiha went to work, thinking the plant was oblivious to everything but the Cookie Monster. But, unbeknownst to him, the plant was watching the show, but had uttered quietly to himself, "Friends...?"

--TBC--

R/R!!


	4. Learn Your ABCs

I...dont really have anything to say. Except that I own Plant-Naru! But sadly, not the real Naruto...

--

A card was held up.

"...Boat."

And another.

"K...Kitty..."

Sasuke was a great teacher. So far, the plant knew the alphabet and most basic words. And a few harder words thanks to the dictionary. It seemed like he had been reading after all. Even more so, he could speak in sentences. They were a bit broken and short, but it was slowly getting better.

As Sasuke ate a fishcake and held up another card. The plant tilted his head, inspecting it for a second before grinning. "It is Naruto!"

"...Huh?" Flipping the card to see what it was, a plain picture of a flower greeted him. He sighed, smiling a bit as he spoke, "No, Naruto. It's a flower."

"So...Naruto is a flower?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Sasuke is...not a flower."

Naruto never ceased to amaze him. "You're right, again. I'm human. You're a plant."

"But...Naruto is a flower. Naruto not plant..."

"Plant is...well, its another word for flower." The Uchiha didn't want to push his luck and try to teach him anything too confusing yet. He could wait. Patience was part of the job. He held up another card. "And what's this?" This time, he held up the side that had the word on it.

"..." Naruto tilted his head. "D...O...G...Do...Dog?"

"Very good." He passed the hungry plant a fishcake, watching it nibble away at it. They actually spent a lot of time together, whenever they could. Though, even while Sasuke was working, Naruto would 'attempt' to have conversations with his owner. Though they didn't last long and were usually the subjects a two year old could come up with, they both enjoyed them nontheless.

As the plant ate, he held up the treat again. "What word is this?"

"Well, they call it a Naruto, but its a fishcake. That's why I named you Naruto."

"Because Naruto eats them?"

The raven nodded, amused by the confused and questioning tone of the plant. It was strange, even though the voice told Sasuke 'male', he couldn't be entirely sure on the plant's gender. It's not like the plant had human...sexual appendages to check, and Sasuke didn't see a stamen anywhere.

"Hey, Naruto..are you a boy?"

"Boy?" Naruto tilted his head. "Naruto is a flower."

A grumble. "No, you dobe. I mean, what's your sex...or, gender?"

"Sex??...oh! Naruto has a penis! "

_I hope he learned that from the damn dictionary_, Sasuke thought, blushing and hiding his face in his hands. Though he didn't know why he was blushing, he coughed and straightened up, willing himself to relax...

"...Does Sasuke have a penis?"

Sasuke nearly choked at that question. "Well...yes, I do. And if you have a..." he had to force it out, "penis, it means you're a boy, or you are male."

"Okay. Naruto and Sasuke is male. But what if you have a vagi-"

"IT MEANS...You're female, or a girl."

"Oh." The plant looked away, already bored it seemed like. Thank god, Sasuke was worried the plant would want to dive further into the world of females and males...and the differences between them. Sasuke glanced up and saw the large head was tilted towards the rays coming down from the skylight. It opened to speak,"What is...out the window?"

Sasuke blinked. "You mean outside?...Well...there's different buildings...like the one we are in. And there's a whole lot more humans like me, and different animals, and even plants." He never really thought about it, but considering Naruto was cooped up inside all day, he didn't really know about anything outside the lab. He didn't really know how he could explain the entire world, either. It wasn't an easy subject to describe.

The plant lowered his head, pondering over the words. The vines twisted, anxiously, and Sasuke imagined hands wringing together in nervousness. "It sounds...big...and...nice. Naruto wishes he could see it." The creature glanced up at the skylight again, apparently lost in thought.

Frowning at the disappointment his tone, the Uchiha stared up as well, wondering about the subject, and what he could do about it. It's not like he could exactly take Naruto on a grand tour outside, it would be too risky and dangerous. And with the way the plant was growing, there was hardly any way to lift him up anyways. He outgrew his old pot, and was now about as tall as the human himself, and just as heavy, if not more.

Glancing sideways at the clock, he frowned, wondering what to do... Glancing over at his desk, he caught a glimpse of the flashcards they were using earlier. And suddenly got an idea. Smiling, he walked over to his desk to fetch his car keys, catching a certain someone's attention.

"What is Sasuke doing?"

"I'll be back in a little bit, Naruto." With that, the botanist left, leaving the vegetation to dwell with his own thoughts.

--

Naruto was bored.

No, scratch that, extremely bored.

As a plant, he was limited to where he could reach or what he could look at. The books were fun, and he liked the look on his owner's face when there was a mess on the floor, but it certainly didn't keep him entertained for long. The television was great though, because there so many varieties of 'shows', as Sasuke put it.

Now, he was enthralled in a soap opera on the TV.

_"Oh my darling...I love you more than life itself. Please, do not leave me. I can change!"_

Love...It seemed like a courtship between humans who cared a lot about each other. He wondered if plants could court, or even feel love. Could he ever love someone like the man on the TV?

_"You can never change! You've hurt me too much in the past."_

Naruto growled in irritation. The girl was leaking too much from her eyes. Her words sounded silly because of whatever she was feeling.

_"I'll change, but only for you...because of my love for you."_

Though it was a random thought, he wondered if all humans loved someone. Did his owner love someone? He mumbled to himself, "Who does Sasuke love...?"

"Naruto."

The Uchiha's voice made the plant jump a bit, and he turned his head towards the human, who was holding what looked like a bag. "S..Sasuke?"

The dark haired man just stared at him for a second, and briefly the plant wondered what the tingly feeling he had was. It was gone though, once the gaze shifted to the TV behind him. The raven's nose wrinkled slightly. "What...are you watching?"

"A...humans and love show?" The vegetation tried to explain, tilting his head away. Why did he feel so...hot? Maybe if he were human, he would have realized that...he was blushing. He sat quietly as the human inspected the TV show to get a better understanding.

"Oh. A soap opera..." Sasuke rolled his eyes, shutting the program off. "Anyways, I've got something for you."

Naruto looked back over. "Something...for Naruto?"

A nod was his answer, and suddenly a handful of small, white papers were handed over. Curious, he let his vine pick them up, another one lifting a single one from the pile. He stared, then turned it around, startled to see a picture on the other side. But it wasn't like his flashcards, they were more elaborate and complex.

"I went outside and took pictures with my camera...you can basically use a camera to make a picture of anything you can see with it," Sasuke explained, moving over and pointing to the tall building in the picture. "That's the building we are in right now."

"We are in here?" Naruto asked with bewilderment. "Its...pretty, and big outside. Why is it small inside..?"

"Well, we are in a room, Naru. There are lots of rooms in the building, with other humans working..." Sasuke took one of the folders and held it up. "This is a picture of downtown. There are other buildings there with different businesses." He let the plant inspect it for a few seconds, then pulled up another picture. "And this is the park..."

Naruto's large, gaping mouth opened a bit, in what looked like awe. "So many plants..."

A chuckle. "There's still a whole lot more everywhere. Here, you can keep those pictures. I don't need them."

The plant looked over the stack, pulling out pictures and studying them carefully, occasionally making noises. Then, he tilted his head up at the human. "You...got these pictures for Naruto?"

"Yeah...since you can't exactly go outside and look, I brought the outside to you." The Uchiha rubbed the back of his head.

Naruto was silent, for a second. He stared at the pictures, then back at the raven. Suddenly his muzzle broke out into a wide grin of teeth, and his vines wrapped around Sasuke's waist and pulled him closer.

"Uh! Naruto, wha-" He didn't finish his sentence as the vines held him tightly to the plants snakelike body, the voice above him filled with happiness, "Thank you Sasuke! Sasuke is so nice to Naruto!!" The grip on him tightend a bit, and he realized he was being hugged.

Hugged by a plant nontheless.

Shaking his head in disbelief, he wrapped his arms around the creature's midsection, smiling to himself.

--

R/R!


	5. Authors Note

Alright people, Ashers here with some things to clear up any questions/comments about this story.

First off, a lot of you are curious about what Naru-plant exactly looks like. I had another picture of him on my other computer, but I'll post that pic up at the next official update. But for now, I do have another pic of what he looks like. You can check it out by going to my profile and the link will be up there. You will also notice Naru's main color is light green, when I clearly said when Sasuke first saw him he was completely black. I re-read through the chapters and noticed that, of course, I had forgotten to say that his color changed. SO! That feature will be in the next chapter as a side note kind of thing.

Also, I'd like to point out that this story IS very strange, and you all have been really understanding with me, even though I, again, checked through my chapters and noticed some definite mistakes (such as mispelling otouto). I'll try to fix them, but honestly, I have no beta reader, and sometimes my "tunnel vision" completely overlooks a feature. I guess I should consider getting a beta...

Ahm, this next point I'm covering will have a spoiler, but I'm making it as vague as possible.

As you all know this IS a yaoi story. And some of you were concerned about how that is exactly going to happen. I can tell you now that Sasuke isn't going to do anything sexual with Naruto in THAT stage of the plant's appearence. Keep in mind though, when they finally do "get it on", it will STILL be technically PlantxHuman love.

If that thought unnerves you to a point that you cannot overlook it, I suggest that you no longer read this. But if you can tolerate the idea, I say still continue reading, because this story will get loads better, and even if its plantiality (was gonna say beastiality, but that isn't quite right), I still think its really hot. Trust me on this, I'm rarely satisfied with my own work (Im my own biggest critic), let alone I actually ENJOY reading my own work. When I wrote all the dirty parts, I couldn't get enough of it. With that said, don't say I didn't warn you.

And when Naruto finally turns into what I call his "appealing stage", I will be garunteed to show you a picture, and you can be the judge of if him having sex with Sasuke is okay.

I think...that's all I have for now, but I feel like chatting a bit more. I'm so glad that all of you seem to be really enjoying this. When I first saw 'Little Shop of Horrors' (Btw, I definitely suggest watching that movie if you haven't, its really good) and had these thoughts, I was a bit skeptical about actually writing it. But I voiced the idea with my best yaoi buddy and I decided to go for it, weirdness aside. Mostly because as much as I LOVE the stories on , it usually has the same trend, you know? They do have their own points and varieties, but the plots are mostly constant. I try not to do that in my stories, especially my non-oneshot ones. And I figured this would definitely be origional, considering the CLOSEST thing Ive seen to a plant story is about tentacles...

Also, a nice treat for those who are still actually reading (lol), I'm kinda ditching that FMA story for now and I'm partaking in another sasunaru story. I'm roughly 1/4 of the way done at the moment, it's taking me a long time because the theme and plotline of the story I'm basing it off of calls for some nice heavy details. Which is fine, but sometimes it's hard to pull great writing out of my head.

Well...I think that's good for now. Thanks for reading again, and I hope to see you all in the future.

Ashers


	6. Separation

Argh. I wrote the third to last chapter today. It was...well, you'll see in the future.

Right now it's time to read and enjoy!

--

"Naruto, quit it!"

The plant merely grinned his big teeth, continuing his onslaught on the poor human.

Another fit of irritated laughter came up, "Argh, dobe, I'm going to chop you up for this..!" He complained as the light green vine, which had slowly replaced the black color of Naruto's body over the days, was currently wriggling against him didn't cease its _tickling_.

"Sasuke shouldn't say mean things like that. Naruto is only having fun!" The other replied, reluctantly letting the man go and seemed to pout by letting his body slump.

That only earned him a glare. "I don't like being tickled, ok? How would you like if.." He blinked, "Wait. Can plants even be ticklish?"

The plant tilted his head. "Naruto does not know," he answered, flicking one of his vines. "Where are Naruto's fishcakes?"

The Uchiha's eye twitch a bit. "They were out of fishcakes today," he started, walking over to the bag he brought in this morning. At the plants horrified gasp, he chuckled and glanced over. "Besides, I don't want you to get fat."

"Naruto is not fat..." A sneaky tendril came up and poked the dark haired boy's forehead. "What is for lunch then?"

"Well..." Sasuke held up what looked like two brightly labeled bowls. "I brought some extra ramen...I've got to go cook them though, so I'll be back in a few minutes," he said, leaving the room quietly, leaving the plant to hum to himself and tap his vines lightly against the table as he waited, smiling to himself.

Naruto wondered...if he could live with Sasuke forever. He liked the human, a lot. The way he talked, the way his hair stood up in the back, even those dark eyes. He liked the way the man's nose would wrinkle when he was annoyed, or how sometimes he'd give him a small smile that made his vines tingly all over the place.

Naruto blushed a bit, the shade hardly noticeable to human eyes. Tilting his head down, he sighed quietly, wondering what it would be like if they were the same species. It's not like they could love each other now, right? Humans loves humans, it was as simple as that.

His thoughts were interrupted as the door opened, signaling his owner's return. He tried to calm down, muttering a "Welcome back Sasuke," as he glanced up at the dark haired figure to smile.

Well, he was expecting a dark haired figure, but not these two. He froze, unable to move as the strangers regarded him with surprised faces. The one with longer hair reacted quickly and shoved them both inside, closing the door behind him.

"Shit..what the hell Sasuke.." The man had muttered, glancing over at the other, shorter haired man and then back at the tall creature.

Naruto thought about hiding, but it'd be pointless anyways. Though he wasn't sure what to say. Fortunately, his owner had decided to pop in to the fun as well.

"Im back Narut-"

He suddenly noticed that the other two were in his room. And Naruto was...not hiding? "Itachi...do you not bother knocking?" He finally spoke, glaring quietly at the two.

His older brother decided to ignore that. "Sasuke, why didn't you tell me about this?"

"Well, its kind of hard to explain to your brother that his plant can move and talk," he replied with quiet fury.

The male that hadn't spoke yet decided to put in his two cents. "Really, Sasuke..did you expect to hide this...thing away from everyone else?"

The plant flinched at the term 'thing', but he thought it'd be best to stay out of this.

"First off, it's a he. Secondly, I didn't realize that I had to show off my projects to everyone in the damn building, Sai."

"Alright," Itachi decided to cut in, not wanting the to bicker. "Sasuke, that's enough. For your sake, I'm not going to say anything about this. As for you Sai, I expect you to keep your mouth shut as well."

'Sai' said nothing, only snorted as he walked around them and shook his head. "Can't make any promises," he spoke cheerfully, ignoring the angry protests from Sasuke as he closed the door behind him.

"Damnit, out of all the people who have to know, Sai is the one," he grumbled, glaring over at his older brother. "He's not going to keep his mouth shut."

"I am aware." The older male turned himself towards the plant now, walking over to it. "I can't believe you've been hiding this thing all this time, " he said, amused when the plant shied away, closing itself off slightly.

Surprisingly, it was the plant who spoke next. "Naruto..is not a thing," he spoke quietly, looking away and feeling a bit nervous.

The elder Uchiha raised a brow. "Naruto? Is that what you named him?" he asked to the moody figure now behind him.

"...he likes fishcakes."

Shaking his head, Itachi just walked away towards the door. "Sasuke, I'll try to make sure Sai doesn't do anything rash. But maybe next time you should lock the door when you're gone." With that he left, leaving the two of them alone.

Naruto watched the man set down their bowls of ramen, sighing and running his hands through his hair. He decided to explain himself. "Naruto is sorry...Naruto didn't-"

"It's alright," The raven cut him off, glancing over. "It's...it's fine. Let's just eat."

And they did eat their noodles, but for the first time, it was in an uncomfortable silence.

--

Sasuke was yelling.

The creature couldn't make out what the two were saying outside, but he could tell that his owner was...angry at the least. He knew this by instinct, but it was hard to believe since the human was always so calm and never aggravated to such a degree. Annoyance, yes. Irritatation, yes. But full blown anger? It was only just a few minutes ago that Naruto, trying to lighten up the mood that had been casted from the other day's incident, had been complaining about how he needed a new pot; he was still growing as persistently as ever, and it was getting cramped a bit. But, he had sensed someone coming, and so he hid himself away just as the door opened.

Itachi had come in, looking solemn.

The plant stayed to his hiding place anyways, and just watched and laid still as the figure walked over to Sasuke and murmured something. He couldn't tell what it was, but the look Sasuke gave the taller man told Naruto it wasn't good. With a sharp look over, the botanist insisted they went outside to talk. And now he laid there in hiding, wondering what they were arguing about. He was too curious for his own good, he supposed.

After what seemed like hours, the raven haired male came back in, looking very upset and pacing around the room, muttering to himself, not seeming to notice his companion slowly lift up his head after realizing the coast was clear.

"What is wrong, Sasuke?" The plant asked him quietly, not wanting to upset the scientist even more.

With a jerky glance, he snapped out of his thoughts. Quietly he approached Naruto and stared blankly at the floor, not sure how to say what his brother had just told him.

"Itachi...he said that, Sai called some higher ups and told them about you. They're...they said tomorrow they're coming in to take you and turn you over to government investigation." Sasuke slumped against the table, burying his face in his hands. "You're...leaving, and not coming back."

The dark news left an uneasy silence as Naruto absorbed the words and thought them over carefully. He didn't want to leave...but, it sounded like there was no choice. They were going to take him away. But...that couldn't happen.

"It will be ok, Sasuke.." the plant murmured, placing a vine on the human's shoulder in a comforting way, hoping to cheer up his owner. He was surprised when it was pulled into the human's lap and held onto, as if hugging onto it and never wanting to let go. Feeling it'd be better not to ask about it, he didn't respond or pull away, simply staring at the floor miserably as their silence dragged on.

After a while, when it started to become dark, and it was almost lock-up time, Naruto gently shook the man's shoulder with a free tendril and spoke quietly, "Sasuke needs rest."

Sasuke didn't reply, he just got up and went to go put away his papers, not bothering to look over them. And he didn't say anything else when he left the room and locked up for the night. He couldn't say anything, because there was nothing to say.

The plant stared at the door, for a long time. Thinking about Sasuke. Thinking about how he was used to sitting in the dark and watching 'I Love Lucy' all night. Thinking about all the fishcakes he ever ate and how the ramen he had ate that afternoon was really good.

Would his new home let him have ramen or fishcakes...?

He sighed quietly, staring up at the moon through the window above. _What can Naruto do...?_

--

Sasuke decided to come into work a bit early.

He didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night. How could he? The amazing plant he had been spending almost two months with was now going to be taken away from him. All because that damn Sai leaked it to the fucking government. Hell, even Itachi couldn't do anything about that.

He sighed wearily, getting out of the car and glancing up at the tall building. If they brought Naruto out this way, he could at least see the outside world finally...before they...

Shaking his head, he swiped his card key since it was too early for open doors. Going inside, he barely gave a glance to the pink haired girl who was busy putting on her make-up for the day.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun!" was all she said, and thank god for that.

He didn't bother with coffee, or checking if he had mail. He went straight up to his room, where Naruto would be waiting for someone to come in. He knew for a fact that the plant didn't sleep. _He must get lonely_, the raven thought absentmindedly, stopping at his door. Letting out a breath and digging out his key, opening the door and ready to do nothing but say goodbye until the agents came to take him away at ten. Turning on the lights, he glanced around the room, immediately taking in the sudden change with a painful lurch in his stomach.

Naruto wasn't there.

--TBC--

Oh noes! Where is Naruto? Well, R/R and find out next week!


	7. Disappear

I'm so sorry for the lack of update! I was on vacation all this week until today and wasn't able to update mid-week. I failed to realize this until it hit me(and sadly at the time I had no access to a computer.)

SO! Here's the update (a lil' late). But no worries, the next chappie will be posted on schedule. Sorry for the delay!

--

It was strange. He was so used to coming in and seeing that tall, grinning plant sitting in the corner. After all, he was moved there when he became to big to sit on the table. But Naruto never minded, and he would sit there everyday, usually with the television on and watching some lame show from the eighties. Seeing that grinning face, it was like a wake-up call, and it always brightened his morning to see him being overly cheerful about nothing.

But there was no cheerful plant, or background noise of a television, or even a happy, "Good morning, Sasuke!". The silence was thick, and the room seemed so big. The only evidence that something had even been there was the outline in the dust where his pot sat. Not even a leaf was left behind.

He stared at it, quietly, as if unsure how to deal with this. Why...was he gone? He could have sworn they said they'd take him at ten. Why was Naruto already gone then? Perhaps...maybe that was too risky in broad daylight? They must have done it in the middle of the night, or early in the morning. They took him away before Sasuke could even say goodbye...

Falling to his knees, the raven stared at that spot, fists clenched, not sure what to do. He sat there, almost hoping he'd blink and everything would be back to normal. But it didn't. It wasn't fair. They had no right to take Naruto away from him...the plant was his, not theirs. _Sai..._He slammed his fist into the floor, not caring about the pain he instantly felt afterward. _That bastard took him away._

After calming down and sitting there for a while, feeling nothing but misery in the pit of his stomach, the Uchiha slowly stood up, walking over to his desk and plopping himself down. He was already exhausted and yet here was work to be done. No matter what, he had to collect himself, and move on with his life. His glazed eyes stared blankly down at some papers left on his desk last night, trying to focus on the words. It was...too damn quiet. Sasuke never had to worry about noise before, but...he grew used to the sounds of Naruto living in here. Growling, he slammed his head down, not bothering to worry about papers. He just let his thoughts drift. Where was Naruto going to live now? Would they treat him nicely, or would they not care? He could imagine the tall plant, sitting there complaining about not getting fishcakes. A ghost of a smile flickered over Sasuke's face at the thought, and his mind decided that it was time to sleep.

...

A knock on the door pulled him hours later from a dreamless slumber.

Sasuke slowly opened his eyes to the light, blearily staring ahead at nothing as his brain tried to catch up. It was brighter than before. He must have fallen asleep...what time was it, anyways? With a sudden glance around the room, he decided that he didn't care what time it was anyways.

The knocks were heard again. Glancing over at the door, the raven pulled himself upright, grabbing a pen to at least to look like he was busy. He muttered loudly, "come in."

The door opened, and an unfamiliar person bowed his head and walked in. Adorned with a business suit, the man sported white hair and full circled glasses. He pushed said spectacles closer to his face as he spoke. "Hello there. Mr. Uchiha, I presume?"

"Yes." What was this pompous asshole doing in his office anyways? "How may I help you...?"

"My apologies...I'm Kabuto...I'm here representing the pick-up team. We're here for the plant now, so if you'd be so kind as to show us where it is."

...Wait, what? Sasuke frowned over the man's words, unsure of what he heard was correct. What time was it again, he suddenly wondered, glancing at his plain wall-clock. Five past ten...?

"Didn't you...pick him up earlier?" He started slowly, looking confused and glancing over at the empty space again. "He wasn't here when I arrived this morning, so I thought you came in and took him last night.."

By the look on the man's face, this clearly wasn't pleasing news. "Are you saying...that you don't have the plant?"

Was this man honestly serious? Sasuke spoke in clear annoyance. "No...I told you-"

"How can I be sure that you aren't hiding it?"

Shaking his head, the scientist tried to keep his thoughts from flying around too much as he spoke in a calm tone, "Listen...I have no clue where he is. I didn't move him or do anything. If you like, you can search the whole damn building. But I can't help you because I don't know where he went."

The words hung silently in the air, and it seemed the white haired man was unsure of what to make of this. Quietly, Kabuto set his jaw. "That...might be neccessary. Have a good day, Mr. Uchiha." And he left the office briskly with an air of irritation, leaving Sasuke to wonder what the hell was going on.

Naruto...wasn't picked up. But then where was he? Plants didn't just dissapear, especially five foot, three hundred pound plants. What the hell was going on then?!

"Naruto...where the hell are you?" He whispered to himself, staring dejectedly at his desk.

--

A week later, the clouds darkened over the sky.

Sasuke, as usual, sat at his desk, the television playing in the background as he wrote monotonously, his eyes never moving away from his work. The workers had gone through with a clean sweep throughout the building, and had even gone to his house, but nothing came up. It was quite the shock to other workers to see government officials raiding every room for reasons unknown to only three. And now Sasuke sat here, trying to get to a normal schedule. He didn't have anything to look at anymore, and if he tried to occupy himself, only for a second, it would only get him off his work. It was hard enough to get himself started, he didn't want to distract himself.

Though the bags under his eyes gave away the apparent uninterest shown on his face. He hardly slept a week, too worried and lost in thought at night to rest peacefully. He knew it was stupid to care so much for a plant, but...Naruto wasn't just a plant to the Uchiha. He was a companion and maybe even a friend.

The sound of dripping roused him from his thoughts. Glancing up, he suddenly noticed that he could hear rain outside, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was the damn roof was leaking, right where the sky light was.

Groaning in annoyance, he got up and went over to his lab table, glancing up at the window and angered to see droplets of water somehow leaking down. Well that's great...he had a missing plant and his window sprung a leak...

Sasuke would _try_ not to get angry at all of this, but it was hard not to.

Frowning and rubbing his forehead in annoyance, he placed his hand on the desk, hoisting himself up and standing up to peer closer at the leak, ignoring the water dripping onto his face. With a closer look, he realized that the window wasn't completely closed, a small gap letting the rain in. He reached up to close it.

But, of course, it seemed to be jammed. With a growl, he pulled it open a bit more, then tried to slam it close.

No such luck. And his attempt to stay calm wasn't working.

Growling, he shoved it open, grabbing onto the sill and pulling himself up a bit, peering outside. The roof was barren, and he could see the city skyline through the haze and rain. It was quite a lovely view, even in the rain. But enough of the sightseeing, he had to fix this damn window first. Frowning, he turned to inspect the window's edges, curious to see if there was something stuck and preventing it from shutting. With a quick glance up though, the window was forgotten when he saw something huddled against the wall of the opposing building section. Something with a very familiar looking pot.

"N...Naruto...?"

--TBC--

R/R!


	8. Metamorphosis

Argh! I'm so sorry for, yet again, a late update. But school started for me this week and things have been kinda hectic. And I was thrown off because we started on Tuesday instead of a normal school week, so I must have thought it was Wednesday today or something. Please forgive me.

--

Sasuke stared some more, unsure if what he was staring at was actually Naruto. Though in the back of his mind he was sure that there weren't any _other_ six foot plants around, and he recognized his own orange pot he used...but something else was wrong.

The tall Naruto he was so used to, with the long snake-like body and grinning head, was gone at the moment. Instead, a large bulb sat on the pot, pointing straight into the air. The leaves were dark green, and it cacooned what he hoped was his old plant inside, shielding him off from sight. A few small vines draped out over the pot, but they were motionless as well. Sasuke figured that he had opened the window in the middle of the night and pulled himself up before doing...well, whatever the hell he was doing now. How he accomplished the feat of lifting his own weight up, the botanist wasn't sure.

Hoisting himself up completely, the cold sting of the rain was ignored. Carefully he walked across the roof, not wanting to be spotted in anyone elses sun light. That's the last thing he needed, was for people to come up here and see what was going on. Frowning as he approached the plant, he touched it lightly, murmuring again, "Naruto..?"

The plant twitched a bit, but there were no other moments besides the swells of apparent breathing occurring. It almost looked like Naruto could have been...hibernating. Or even more precise, metamorphisising?

With a sigh, he ran his hands through his hair, mulling more important things over. Naruto very well couldn't stay up there on the roof in that state, especially with those people still looking for him. Hell, he was lucky that they hadn't even thought about checking the roof beforehand. There was no way he could stay in the Uchiha's office anymore either, so...

Pulling out his cellphone from his pants pocket, he decided to call his brother and see what he could do about this situation.

"Hello..?"

"Itachi." He sighed, hoping that his brother would comply with what he was planning to do. "I have a favor to ask..."

A snort on the other line, and the voice held amusement. "What can I help you with, dear little brother?"

"Well, I need..." He glanced over at the plant, taking a deep breath, "I need a helicopter."

"...A helicopter." The disbelief was practically dripping through the phone, but that was to be expected. "And pray tell this helicopter isn't preforming anything illegal.."

"I found Naruto.."

Silence for a brief second. "You found some...fishcakes?"

...The intelligence of his brother was marveling. "No, you idiot," he said through clenched teeth, trying not to twitch his eye, "I found my plant, and I need to transport it to my house."

"Wait, transport it to your house? Sasuke, is that a smart thing to do? The goverment obviously wants it, and who knows what will happen if they find it there."

"...That's a risk I'm willing to take."

Itachi stayed silent on the other line, obviously mulling things over silently in his head. Meanwhile the botanist had his fingers crossed, hoping the other would choose family over...well, the law.

The drawn out sigh of defeat was music to Sasuke's ears. "Alright...but let's do this later tonight, so the sun doesn't give away our plan."

With a final thanks, the rave smiled to himself, snapping his phone shut. If this went according to plan, Naruto would be safe and wouldn't have to leave him. That thought was reason enough to skip out on working and sit by his plant, even if he couldn't talk to the plant.

He waited there until the sun was gone. Now that the light would not expose them, the two brothers were now facing eachother on the roof, the wind blowing at them and chilling slightly. One looked clearly amused, the other irritated.

"I didn't know you cared so much about a plant, Sasuke."

The younger man didn't respond, sad to agree that the non-speaking plant was much better company than his so called brother. Petting the caccoon gently, he frowned at Naruto, wondering how long this state would last. Would he even get out of it? Who knew.

The sounds of the chopper interrupted his thoughts, and he sighed, glancing over at the other male.

"Hey, Itachi...well, thank you..."

The man's smirk was welcome enough.

It was a good thing Sasuke had his own home lab to put Naruto in. Having a large plant inside his living room didn't seem to quite fit the decor well enough. And it was lucky enough that the green house's windows could be unhinged and removed. There was no way they would be blasting a hole anywhere his house just to fit the damn plant in, no matter how many times Itachi insisted a simple tarp attached over it would make it good as new.

Thanking his brother again, one too many times in his entire lifetime, he closed the door behind him, sighing and running his face, feeling much more relieved than he ha that past week. Now that Naruto was safe and back with him, there was not a whole lot he had to worry about, minus the small detail that the goverment wanted him as well.

That he could overlook for now.

Though he knew he could sleep tonight, he felt like he couldn't. Not yet at least. Instead of running off to bed, he found himself in his lab, sitting in front of his plant and eating fishcakes, silently watching the large bulb and feeling a bit nervous. He was so used to staring at the plant and having conversations with it.

"...I'd feel better if you could talk in that state."

He got no reply, and he didn't really expect one. Eating his snack silently, he stared quietly at the leaves draped over the pot. He remembered those vines were usually never still; always exploring and feeling everything. It was so strange to look at them now. But, he supposed, that was how it was going to be for a while. No yelling or hugs, or tickles or comments. Nothing but silence.

He could deal with that, he supposed. He liked silence, there was nothing wrong with that. It was just not knowing if the plant was even ok, that's what bothered him. For all Sasuke knew, the plant could have been dying or ill.

The Uchiha sighed, carefully standing up with his plate. He needed rest now, and he supposed that it was a good time to head off to bed. But before that, he moved over to his plant, and placed a hand against the petals once more. "Goodnight, Naru-"

There was a faint sound rumbling from the large creature.

Sasuke looked quite shocked at the realization, listening to the sound for a few minutes. Then, relief filled his senses as he recognized the noise, and he laughed to himself, shaking his head. Well, that answered his question he supposed, heading up the stairs to retire for the night.

After all, Naruto had to be fine if he was snoring.

--

R/R


	9. A New Look

I have...no notes actually. So uh, read on!

--

When Sasuke awoke the next morning, he felt refreshed. A good nights sleep after a week of insomnia had that effect, though. With no problems to keep him awake at night, hopefully he could get back on his regular sleeping schedule. Stretching himself, cracking his back, he reluctantly left his warm sheets, determined to take a shower before he had to go to work.

With the warm water to awaken him fully, he felt his mood very chipper today, knowing that for now everything would be alright. In fact the Uchiha was actually humming to himself as he prepared a simple breakfast, heading over to his green house to check up on Naruto.

When he entered, the plant seemed to be doing fine, other than the fact that he was still in hibernation of sorts. Though the vines draped over the pot seemed longer than before. Well, Naruto was rapidly growing, whatever this phase was.

Sighing, he petted the outside, smiling a bit as the skin trembled a bit underneath his fingers. "I bet it's cramped in there. Well hurry up and finish, it gets lonely out here." Taking a bite out of his instant breakfast taco, he patted the side of it one last time before turning.

"Be a good boy, Naruto," the man joked before leaving the room, locking up and heading to work for the day, hoping to beat the traffic on the way.

The plant twitched at the departure.

--

Why the hell was there so much paperwork?

Sasuke couldn't help but feel his works schedule seemed to be more hectic lately. Though that was...expected. The main obstacle was all the random people popping into his office, wide eyed and asking him a hundred question a minute.

"Was there really a giant plant in here?"

"I heard that it could move around...is that true?"

"Shino is missing, and they say that plant is carnivorous...you don't think-"

Mostly he slammed the door in their ridiculous faces, wondering if he should put up a 'Do Not Disturb' sign, although he doubted that would actually stop the masses from trying to get answers to the giant plant rumors. This would be the talk of the building for a long time, he feared.

And then, of course, there was Kabuto. Those damn government officials were always checking in, trying to get more information out of him, as if he were holding out. Well, he was...but that wasn't their business. He wouldn't give Naruto away just like that. So he faked innocence, and always had a blank look on his face, even when the silver haired man was inches from his face, practically blowing a fuse.

And of course, there was the paperwork. So, things were quite frantic in his life at the moment.

At the moment he was downstairs getting some coffee and signing for some more papers. Some of these weren't even directly for him, why the hell did he still have to do them? Grumbling quietly, he was about to return to his office when a conversation between a certain fuck-head and bimbo slut could be heard.

"No way! They took that ugly plant away from Sasuke-kun?" Sakura was whispering quietly, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Yeah. It was a nuisance, that plant. He would have been discovered soon anyways, so I reported it."

"Wow Sai...was he angry with you?"

_Angry is an understatement...and by the way, Naruto is not ugly, you stupid bitch, t_he Uchiha thought silently to himself, still eavesdropping.

"I suppose so, but it serves him right. He can't keep that thing in his room, although judging by the plant even a moron could take care of it. All it did was sit there and twitch. It's brain capacity is probably the size of a-"

A finger tapped Sai's shoulder, and he turned around, surprised to see a grinning Sasuke behind him. Unsure of what was going on, he was about to speak, when a fist suddenly landed in his face, Sakura catching him from the force.

"S...Sasuke-kun, why did you do that?!" The pink haired girl cried, staring wide eyed down at the bleeding nose Sai was now sporting.

The raven didn't respond to her, and merely glared at the injured man, speaking quietly, "Naruto is much smarter than a shit head like you." With that said, he turned and walked away, feeling cheerful even as the people around him had stopped to stare wide eyed at the event.

--

Sasuke arrived home a bit later than he expected. After a firm scolding from his brother and grocery shopping, all he wanted to do was sit down and relax until sleep came over him. Putting away all his food, he cooked himself some udon, holding the plate in hand and heading over to check up on his plant again.

Opening the door with one hand and balancing the plate with the other, he glanced around before flicking on the lights. He was suddenly glad for the gates around his house, and the fact that this area wasn't very populated. God forbid he came home to some kids peeking inside to see the giant plant in the green house.

Speaking of which, the plant was...twitching. The botanist frowned, approaching Naruto and staring at it quietly. No, it wasn't twitching...it was more like pulsing. Hesitantly, he lifted his hand and placed it against the surface-

The leaves suddenly released a bit, causing him to step back and watch, enthralled.

The large bulb pulsed a few more times, inching apart, before suddenly opening wide, petals drooping to the floor and revealing the hidden figure inside. Naruto was there, but…he had changed even more. His snake body was there, but the flower head was no longer in sight. Instead, the upper body of a male came out, the skin tinted light green just like the rest(1). The head had a mop of shaggy, sun-kissed blond hair, two pieces of locks looking longer and sticking out like….cat or fox ears. The boy also had black marks on his cheeks, giving the illusion of whiskers. The long, green arms stretched above, working out the tension. Then, those eyes opened, revealing sky blue eyes.

The raven was too mesmerized by the beauty of the male, and so Naruto simply grinned with delight. "Sasuke!" He chirped, smiling and wriggling his way closer to the other shocked male.

"Naru…? You...look different," was all the Uchiha could manage beyond his momentary shock.

The blond plant-boy grinned once more tilting his head to the side. "Yes, Naruto went to sleep for a while. This body doesn't bother Sasuke, does it…?"

Well, if the plant meant bother as in bothering a certain something in his pants, then the answer would have to be yes. "N-no, it's amazing that you turned into something like that…" Those coal eyes raked over said body once more, suddenly noticing a little…something extra the plant didn't have before. Right below the boy's hip line was…a cloaca. And right underneath that…

Sasuke blushed as he realized exactly what he was staring at, suddenly jerking his gaze away to intently study the wall, wanting to smack himself, although his libido was the one who needed a good smacking…

"Ne, Sasuke, where are we?" The blond finally asked, inspecting his surroundings carefully. "Wasn't Naruto outside...?"

"Yes," The other male responded, finally cooling himself down and turning to look at the boy once more, though he decided not to let his gaze wander below the belt. "I found you on the roof and we transported you to my house for safe keeping."

With a nod, those blue eyes turned back to him once more. "Naruto didn't want to leave...so Naruto hid. Was…that a bad thing to do?"

"...No, Naru," he replied, smiling and reaching forward to ruffle the boys hair. "It was a smart decision. I'm glad you did it."

Another one of those brilliant smiles. "Then Naruto is happy...and also.." the boy licked his lips, "can...Naruto get some fishcakes now?"

--TBC--

1) If you cant picture this, think of or look up a naga. It's the same body structure.

Hmhmhm, what does plant-Naru look like now? I'll try to draw something of his new form fer the next chappie update. R/R


	10. Feelings

Sorry, I'm a bit late, aren't I?

This chapter is suuuper long. Mostly cuz this is where the naughtiness occurs.

BUT before that, if you want, I have a link on my profile to what Naru looks like now. Go check it out.

This being said, if you still don't approve, THIS is the chapter where the weird (but very hot) mature content comes out. SO, if you don't wanna read, then go away.

--

Sasuke Uchiha woke up one morning, and his first thought was this. _'Why do I want to fuck a plant...?'_

He had been having dreams lately. About Naruto, and his new body. About how he wanted to do naughty things with him, and thoroughly explore him until he knew every inch like it was second-hand nature. Why this was coming up so suddenly, the raven wasn't sure. But as he walked into the greenhouse to check in before he left for work and was greeted by a grinning, cherubic face of sunshine, he knew he had to do something.

"How was Sasuke's sleep?" Naruto chirped, leaning over a table with his arms folded and his head resting on them, that charming smile still on the boy's lips. Somehow he had gotten a hold of one of Sasuke's old T-shirts, and was now studying it intently. Even though it was a lovely sight, something else caught the Uchiha's eye, a certain...other part of the body that seemed to stick up in the air and wiggle, proudly showing off.

Sasuke couldn't help but feel a little lecherous at this observation, but he noticed that even though Naruto's...opening, was in front, he still had the curve of a buttocks, right before it formed into that long thick snake body. It was quite an unusual sight, to see the curve but nothing there. He tried to think of it as simple curiosity...but the fact of the matter was he was staring at someone's ass as they were leaning over the table, and there was no way that it was just simple or curiosity.

Taking a shaky breath, he also found himself, with horrid fascination, that he wondered other things about the body before him as well. Like, if Naruto was male, could he even get an erection? He had a cloaca, but was it actually functional or was it for looks? Small things like that, things that should have been purely scientific, clouded over his always thinking mind, but he was having a really hard time convincing himself that it was purely because of scientific curiosity.

Shaking his head and chiding himself for drifting off when the plant-boy was RIGHT in front of him, he took a deep breath, trying not to blush to horribly, and also wondering how to put this. He decided to take it slow, at first, and try to focus it more about actual work than...well, his secret desires. "Naruto.." The Uchiha asked quietly, staring as the curious plant boy as he tried to figure out how a shirt worked, giggling as he pulled it over his head and it obstructed his vision.

"Yes, Sasuke?" The boy chirped, tilting his head towards the sound of his owner's voice.

Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle, leaning over and pulling the crumpled shirt off the blond's head, who pouted. He became nervous again, wondering what the blond would say to his proposal. "Naruto...you know I study plants, right?"

"Yes.." He answered, tilting his head with a confused look. That look could kill anyone, and Sasuke tried not to blush as he spoke his next words.

"Well...would you mind if I examined you?"

Naruto made a surprised noise in his throat, then smiled. "It is ok. "

"Alright.." Sasuke hesitated again, looking at the plant boy. "You do realize I have to touch you, right?"

The blond was quiet, and if a plant could blush there would definitely be one on the boys soft green face. "It's...still ok," The plant replied quietly, looking a bit nervous. He wasn't sure what would happen, especially since the Uchiha was supposedly going to be touching him, and he still had mixed emotions about the man. But he'd try not to get too ahead of himself.

Meanwhile, Sasuke pulled up a chair, and brought a pair of gloves as well. It's not like he felt uncomfortable touching Naruto's skin, but it was more of a precaution. And the plant boy didn't seem to mind either, so he sat on the stool and sighed, smiling easily. Reaching out to snatch the limb in front of him, his fingers tracing over the arm and pushing down on some areas. Even with gloves on, he could tell the skin was tougher than humans, but surprisingly softer. Even the bones seemed to be spongy and resilient.

His fingers ran across to the chest, where he seemed to notice for the first time, the color of the boys nipples. They were...almost a rich sea green color, and it surprised him for a second. Biting his lower lip in frustration, he felt like he needed to get to the point of his examination and complete it before this got too out of hand. And he also realized, for the first time in his life, he was going to be late to work. But, to hell with that.

"Naruto, I'm afraid I'm going to need a sample."

The blond blinked, watching Sasuke get to and head to where he kept his empty vials. "A sample of what?" He asked, curious as to the man's strange behavior. There was no answer as the botanist returned with an average sized one, this time not bothering to sit on the stool, having a stare down with him. Apprehensive, but curious, he spoke once more. "Sasu-"

The plant was cut off as a gloved hand suddenly found its way to his pouch, rubbing against it with friction that caused Naruto to gasp and tremble, grasping onto Sasuke's shoulders at his body was stimulated. He never felt this way before, but he couldn't deny it felt really good. He whimpered as the hand rubbed harder, the fingers barely grazing upon the skin above his opening as well.

Sasuke tried not to take notice of the sounds the plant was making, but unfortunately he was getting hard from them. That and the fact that Naruto started to harden as well, the erection just barely poking itself out of the protective sheath he continued to stimulate. He took his hand away and instead gripped the erection gently, slowly helping it out of it's hiding place. It's wasn't exactly flesh colored, a bit redder in shade. Though in all honesty with Naruto being a plant and all, he expected it to be green or something.

He couldn't help but stare as his own hand started to work at the hardened member, pumping it in quick strokes. Pre-cum started to bead from the head, and surprisingly it had a hint of light green in the color as well. Naruto had buried his face in his neck, biting at his lab coat to keep from screaming, which only flustered the Uchiha more.

"S-Sah...ahh..." He couldn't form any coherent sentences, the friction coming from the smooth glove against his sensitive flesh was soon becoming too much. He tensed, feeling himself coming to his peak. "It's..."

Sensing this already, the Uchiha rubbed even more, tilting so it would spill into the vial he held with his other hand. He felt Naruto shudder at that moment, crying out as he released, shooting into the container, the rest of it overflowing and dribbling down Sasuke's covered hand. Carefully he pulled away from Naruto, glancing at the panting boy, and then at the member he had just held in his hand, a few more splatters of the cum now dripping onto the floor.

Naruto dared to glance up at his owner, watching the man turn to go put his sample away as he spoke, "The examination is over." The blond tried not to feel hurt about the fact that their experience was just part of the others work. His body slumped towards the floor. He laid back against his pot, still breathing hard, and glanced up when when Sasuke came back over to him.

The dark haired man was staring at him through his glasses, seeming as if he were debating mentally. Then, he slid to the floor onto his knees in front of the boy, reaching out and grasping the half-flaccid member.

Naruto jumped, suddenly realizing that the gloves were gone, and that it was a bare hand touching his need. "S-Sasuke..? Naruto thought you said-"

"I never said I was done with you," the other spoke softly, rubbing the erection back to life, now able to focus and relish in the moans he heard. He couldn't help himself, it didn't matter if he was doing this to a plant or if it was immoral. To him it was only Naruto. Sweet, beautiful Naruto.

He pulled his hand away and received a groan, and he chuckled, eyes glancing down at the other treat below the need that was calling for attention. His head reached forward, even though part of his mind warned him of possible threats of touching the plant skin without any protection. But for once, he ignored that, and he rested his lips at the tip of Naruto's penis, letting his tongue tease the skin gently. The blond whimpered out his name and entwined his fingers into his hair, so he continued, sucking and nibbling his way down the shaft and back up, repeating himself. Stopping at the base, he carefully dug his tongue into the area between the hard flesh and the soft skin of the pouch, causing Naruto to gasp and jerk suddenly. Sasuke guessed it was very sensitive, so he pulled his tongue out, licking at the outside of the pouch instead. Continuing down, he marveled at the tight rosebud, noticing the flesh color around it.

Naruto's senses were going crazy by this point, and he breathed heavily, daring to glance down at the Uchiha, who was observing his entrance with mild fascination. He felt another wave of excitement and embarrassment, having enough knowledge to know that it was his most sacred place being stared at. He felt hot hair breathe out to fan across, and he groaned, trying not to jerk again. Then a wet, prodding tongue swiped over it, and he nearly buckled at that. "S-Sasuke!"

The dark haired man was pleased at the reaction, and he dug his tongue in deeper, nearly groaning at the taste. It was sweet inside, almost too sweet, and he wrapped his lips around the pucker and sucked, as if trying to get the flavor into his mouth. The plant boy couldn't help but cry out loudly at the movement, and the body shook as he tried not to collapse at the stimulus the man was creating to his body. It was...amazing, the knowledge and feeling of Sasuke's tongue actually inside him..

Sasuke was enjoying the fact that he was pleasing his little blond lover, but unfortunately his erection was uncomfortable in the confines of the rough jean material. Right now, it seemed the only thing it'd be happy restrained in was the wet heat of the plant-boy he was currently working over. Pulling out his tongue reluctantly, he sat up and leaned over the panting male, kissing the panting lips tenderly as his hands worked on his own belt, staring down at those cloudy blue eyes that seemed to draw him in.

"Naruto..?" He decided to ask, finally ridding himself of the belt, but not moving to actually work on his pants yet. "I don't want to do anything you aren't comfortable with..."

The plant trembled, his sensitive skin feeling every little brush against it, and right now the raven's crotch was lightly pressed against him, right on the part that needed Sasuke the most. "Naruto...wants to do this, please.."

A jerky nod was his reply, and the man wasted no time getting his pants and boxers off, shivering at the air teasing his need. Not bothering with the rest of his clothes, the lab coat billowed around his bent legs as he scooted closer, inhaling sharply when the head rubbed against the tight hole of the boy, who also let out a noise as well. Although he realized going in dry probably wasn't the best thing to do. Pulling away slightly, he glanced around the room for a second, muttering, "We need something to slick me up..."

No sooner had he uttered those words when something wet and hot enclosed around him, and jumped, groaning and glancing down at the head of the plant in his lap, who was lubricating him well enough with that sinful tongue of his. Suddenly Sasuke was glad that Naruto had lost his sharp pointy teeth in that form, minus the canines.

This was going way too fast, and the Uchiha was going to lose it if this didn't happen now. "Th...That's enough, Naru." When that blond head removed itself and decided to stare up at him with those big, lust-clouded eyes, he slowly crawled on top of the long body, kneeling over the plant-boy who was forced to lay against the cold tile. That was the last thing on his mind though, as the slick cock started to press into him, filling a part of his body that didn't know was empty before. It didn't hurt at all, it felt so...wonderful.

It was a bit awkward at first. Because of Naruto's anatomical set-up and the angle, Sasuke had to actually roll his hips downward instead of forward to thrust, but he adjusted himself quite well, not minding all since it was a small sacrifice to be made if he could continue to stay sheathed in the warm tightness surrounding him at the moment. It was way too good a feeling to stop now. Pressing shaky kisses to the boy's chest, he decided to play with the dark nipples a bit, relishing in the cries he got.

Through the haze in his mind, Naruto couldn't help but wonder how something so simple could feel so...mind blowing. He wasn't sure how Sasuke was feeling, being on the giving end, but the plant was definitely convinced the raven was missing out on something wonderful. Although, with a quick and rather exciting thought from the blond's mind, he could share in the experience. Suddenly bringing up a tendril to his mouth, he lavished it wetly and quickly, eager to see that his dark haired lover had his eyes closed and could not see what he was up to.

Although when that curious little vine suddenly tickled across the skin of his cleft, teasing his own opening before pushing in, those coal eyes flew wide open, the man gasping out and causing his next thrust to jerk a bit. "N-Naruto..."

The blond just kissed him in response, groaning as he could actually feel a part of himself moving inside Sasuke, just as Sasuke was doing to him. Although his vine was nowhere near as sensitive as other things that could penetrate, it would do. He was very enthusiastic with his breaching, since his appendage could actually be a bit more dexterous and explore more, the end actually pressing and massaging against the inner walls, which was driving the raven insane with pleasure.

"Shit, Naruto-ah!" That tendril was currently toying with his prostate now, rather relentlessly. Half numb from the shocks going through his body, he reached a free hand down to grasp the plant-boy's member, pulling on it roughly as a bit of payback and getting a moan from his efforts. Their rough play had expected results, their orgasms coming quickly and with an almost violent force which shook them both and caused them to cling to each other, blubbering out each other's name as they released.

Their high was a bit tremendous to move immediately after, so they lay there in each others embrace, breathing heavily and pressing light kisses to any exposed skin. While the plant-boy found the taste of the human's skin salty, Sasuke was having a completely different experience. He wasn't even sure if what he was lapping at could be called sweat, but whatever it was, it made the taste in his mouth tangy and sugary. Another part of Naruto that he would most likely get addicted to.

It was then, as his brain cleared from sex, that he glanced up at the time and saw he was going to be late to work. Moving his gaze down to the body beneath him, all thoughts of leaving were gone when he saw that flushed face smiling up at him.

Well, fuck work. They could manage one day without him.

--TBC--

Hopefully you can gather yourselves up from the goo piles you've melted into and give me some feedback!


	11. A Sudden Turn

Argh, I forgot my author's note fer a sec...

Here's the next chappie! Also, this chappie has hinting for the theme of my next story. (It should be quite obvious.)

Alsooo, some anatomy class for joo! (So yes, there is some heavy description, but not worse than what you've already read ;D)

Some people don't really know what a cloaca is. Here is a bit of 411 on that: A cloaca is found on some species of animals, like birds and reptiles. Its basically an outer "sheath" that the reproductive organs are held in. For females it could be considered just an extra layer for their vagina, but for males their penises are actually kept inside until the organ is aroused/ready for mating. Naturally, all parts of the organs are internal as well, such as testicles, which will be kinda shown later.

Also...not sure if what Sasuke will do to Naru later is physically possible, but lets say for the sake of yaoi lovers, it is ;D

--

_"I remember... there was mist. Swirling mist upon a vast glassy lake..."_

After cleaning up from their activities and Sasuke deciding that he'd take a day off work, they were now curled up next to each other, as best as they could, on a squishy quilt that was set beneath them. They laid back against one of the desks. Naruto was currently enthralled in the movie playing on the portable TV Sasuke also had brought in for them, while the raven was a bit more distracted by the figure next to him.

"Christine took off his mask!" The plant suddenly gasped, leaning forward a bit more with wide eyes.

Sasuke nodded with an affirmed noise, not really paying attention, staring quietly at the blond and observing him with an unbidden fascination. This plant...no, not 'this plant', that didn't sound right...Naruto...had he cast some sort of spell over him? It seemed like there was no more room in his body to adore the creature more than he already did. He never loved liked this..although he'd never shown an interest in anyone before. It was kind of ironic that the first thing he'd have affections for was also the fruits of his studies.

Speaking of which, his object of affection suddenly noticed the stare and was glancing over at him, curious blue eyes observing him. "Are you ok, Sasuke?" The question was asked with a gentleness, the other couldn't help but smile.

"Sorry, it's just..." trailing off, the Uchiha glanced away, looking a bit nervous, and very flushed at the fact he was caught. "I was daydreaming. Being around you helps me relax enough to do so.."

The plant smiled and snuggled closer, pleased at what the man said to him, and still shocked at what they had done not that long ago. He thought it'd be hopeless to have a crush on the man, being a plant and all. On all the TV shows he saw, it was only humans with humans, which made perfect sense inside Naruto's brain, but still, one part of him dared to hope. And to think his feelings were actually returned...that made him happy all over.

"Naruto is...happy." He finally said aloud, staring at the movie but a bit too into thought to pay attention. When he saw the Uchiha glance at him from the corner of his eye, he blushed a bit, continuing, "Naruto...was sure that Sasuke wouldn't...care about me, the way Naruto did."

That startled the raven a bit, not thinking about the fact that the other could have been harboring such feelings before this. "You mean that...you felt that way before this?"

The plant-boy nodded, one corner of his mouth tilted upwards. "Naruto wasn't going to say anything, because...well, Naruto is a plant, and-"

"You thought it might be wrong?" Sasuke didn't wait for the answer, he just pulled the boy closer. "That may be true to some, but I don't think of you as a plant, Naru...you can talk, and laugh...and get angry or sad...you feel emotions, and you can think and act just like any human I know. That's enough reasons for me."

The plant actually flushed enough to actually be seen, and he smiled at the words, leaning to place a kiss on the man's lips. Deciding that was enough for now, they laid back together once more, focused on the fictional couple that wasn't going as well as they were at the moment.

_"Fear can turn to love...you'll learn to see; to find the man behind the monster."_

_--_

In a strange sense, Sasuke almost thought of him and Naruto as a married couple.

He would come home for work, after a very long day of work, usually filled with people he didn't like (especially Sai and Sakura, they were the perfect bastard couple) and paperwork that had to be done as usual. And though the blond couldn't very well cook or clean the house like a 'wife' could, he would always be there waiting for him, and that was enough for the scientist. Sasuke, when he was in a better mood, would sometimes even call out, 'Lucy-I'm home!' just to please his lover.

The Uchiha, who was never really good at culinary arts from the beginning, would make something simple for the both of them, and spend his time in the greenhouse with the plant-boy until he felt like it was both of their bed times. Sometimes he went into his own room to sleep, but most of the time he would camp put on the futon mattress that he had given Naruto to lay on. It was big enough for the both of them as long as they were close enough, and usually they were. It seemed like they couldn't get enough of each other.

Which was true at the given moment, where they were currently on said bed, though no sleeping was getting done.

Under the blankets, the usually naked Naruto wasn't alone in sporting his birthday suit. Pressed up against each other and sweating, they were currently taking their time in exploring each other's bodies, being sure not to neglect any missed spot.

Naruto was on top this time, although they were faced opposite ways, each of their most intimate parts aligned with the other's face. The plant had careful not to smother his weight on the other as he was currently lapping at a pale hipbone that stuck out and was begging to be relished with attention. The raven haired man was making the most wonderful sounds below him, obviously telling him that he was doing a good job.

Though it was his turn to groan when a hot puff of air teased over his crotch. "D-don't tease Naruto like that..."

"What are you saying? You're the one driving me crazy with the teasing," the human muttered breathlessly, but nevertheless used his mouth against the straining erection hovering above his face, using slow and gentle movements to start out with. In compliance, his own erection was given the same treatment.

As he continued to lavish love on the body above him, Sasuke had an idea in mind, but he had to be extremely careful and make sure it didn't actually end up hurting his lover. Making sure to wet his fingers, he carefully placed the coated digits against the skin of the boy's pouch, letting the tips tease the edge, barely slipping inside along with the hard member.

"S-Sasuke..." The blond choked out, surprised but apparently enjoying the very sensitive treatment. Encouraged, the ivory fingers slowly slipped inside, carefully rubbing the inner walls, wondering how far down he could go.

Though he suddenly focused his attention on the panting, slowly slumping body above him. Carefully, without removing his hand, he coaxed the other to roll onto his back. Staring down at the writhing, moaning boy, he murmured quietly, "Is it too much?"

At the shake of his head, the explored further, slipping in until his whole hand was trapped between the heated skin and the twitching, hard muscle. Those curious fingers rubbed down as far as they could go, and surprisingly they realized they were _holding_ something that was heavy and hot in the cup of his hand. It took him a second to comprehend, but then he realized exactly what he was feeling and squeezed gently.

That move alone instantly caused the body beneath him to buck, eyes wide and near scream erupting as he came, spraying that hot, sticky sweet fluid across his own stomach in large spurts. All the while Sasuke watched, enthralled at the scene. He never thought having your balls played with would be so stimulating, but it made sense, since Naruto's were internal and never touched.

"How was it?" Though the question wasn't really necessary; the wide grin answered plenty.

--

"Damn bastards..."

Sasuke entered the quiet sanctuary of his house, his foot kicking the door open as his hands were too full with groceries to do anything. Sighing with relief, he nudged the door closed and went to set the bags on the counter. He was glad to be home in his house. Not only was he eager to get away from work for the day, he really wanted to go visit his little blond. So, quickly putting everything away and fixing both of them a snack, he went out to the greenhouse once more.

"Naruto, I'm home," he said, coming in with a large bowl of ramen for the both of them to share. He blinked, immediately taking in the quiet. Although there wasn't complete silence, just no excited words or laughter. With a frown, he glanced around the room, taking in the sights of his other plants and his work tables. And then he slowly looked over to that large orange pot that sat nearby.

The Naruto that awaited him wasn't the one he knew. Not the grinning, happy and energetic creature that always greeted him when he came home. The plant-boy was curled up as best he could on the large mattress Sasuke laid out for him. He was underneath the thicker blanket, main body hidden from the world, although it was obvious he was under there by his large vine of a body disappearing underneath the material. Frowning at the scene, the Uchiha briefly wondered if he was asleep.

Then a tired looking face poked his head out from the cacoon of bedding material. And Sasuke realized something was terribly wrong.

--

Oh noes...whats wrong with Naruto? Well, R/R


	12. Disaster

Mah, I also decided to give you guys a lil' plant education. Not that I'm saying anyone is wrong! But I think knowledge is a good tool and knowing your facts perfectly straight will help you in the future! I took some Horticulture in high school so I know at least my basic facts.

First off, Naru isn't a herm or even genderless. He IS a male plant. You might be confused, because yes, flowers are supposed have both male and female parts. BUT, there are also such things as "imperfect" plants, which are born with either one gender or the other. Or sometimes none at all. Naruto would be classified as an imperfect plant with only the stamen intact, or his manparts still there basically. And as for Naruto's 'opening', which many of you may thought was his female part, that was just actually his anus. Sorry you mpreg fans, I don't discriminate the support for it but I don't write it. I tried once, but it turned ugly with a bunch of rude and negative comments, so I decided not to do so ever again.

Anyways, jeje, hope that clears a few things up!

Also...I'm going to warn you guys now. This chapter is...VERY sad. I was looking up possible ailments for plants and I found one that would suit my needs perfectly, but applying the treatments to this story...well, let's just say that I'll have warnings in case you wanna pass over it. It's not pretty.

--

"Naruto? What's wrong??"

Sasuke immediately ran over to the shivering blond, staring worriedly at the flushed, but weakly grinning face.

"Naruto isn't feeling very good.." he murmured quietly, closing his eyes to rest as a cool hand touched his burning forehead. The Uchiha was checking his temperature, and to his alarm the plan-boy's skin was at feverish temperatures. Why was he in such a condition? What had happened? Trying to keep a calm face to not worry the sick boy, he murmured quietly, "is there anything I can get you?"

"W...water..would be nice."

Sasuke nodded, hurrying off to his kitchen to do so, also grabbing a thermometer and a makeshift ice-pack in the process, thoughts running through his head. He seemed just just fine when the man left earlier that morning. Damnit, and who knew how long the plant-boy had been in such a state. Coming back with a quick pace, he knelt down again, trying not to wince as the ragged breaths coming from the other. He helped the boy with the drink, carefully tilting the glass so that nothing would spill. When all of it was gone, the thermometer was gently placed underneath the pasty tongue. He waited not so patiently, rubbing the green tinted arm as he did so.

After about a minute, he pulled it back to him, reading the verdict in his mind. 106.3 F?? That couldn't be good, although since Naruto wasn't exactly human that level temperature might not have been as hazardous than to humans. Still, he would have been a fool to take it lightly. He pulled the blanket off of the shivering, protesting figure and placed the cold pack to rest against the clammy forehead.

Naruto tried to reach for the blankets, but they were held away. The whine that came from him was so weak, so pleading. "Sasuke, Naruto is cold..."

"No, you have a high fever, Naru. We have to bring it down a bit, ok? I'm sorry..." He really hated to deprive his lover of anything, but he had to try and lower the temperature.The boy was obviously hallucinating the heat, which was a strong suggestion that this high fever was indeed harmful. Carefully he sat down on his knees, inspecting the changes in the blond's appearance he couldn't catch before. The usually light green skin seemed a little pale, and the tendrils that were usually at least moving freely were limp and hanging over the pot, immobile. It was highly possible that it was a plant based illness, and if that was the case Sasuke wasn't sure if chemicals or medicines could, or even would be a remedy.

But...there was no way sitting here and doing nothing was going to help. Cursing quietly to himself, he slowly sat up, forcing a smile when those tired eyes glanced over at him. "Naruto, I have to go get some medicine. Just take it easy and rest, alright?"

Not waiting for an answer, the young man left, determined to go find an all night drug store. He had never believed in God, but at that moment he was hoping that some higher power would understand and save his Naruto from whatever this was.

--

The elder brother had frowned, taking in the sight before him. "This plant of yours never fails to amaze me."

Itachi had come over after Sasuke refused to come into work. He wasn't sure what to expect, but a nude plant-boy Naruto who was sick with fever was the last thing on his mind as a possibility. Still, he remained calm and examined the boy himself, taking in careful details. Just because he wasn't exactly a botanist didn't mean he was lacking experience.

"Sasuke...I think you'd better take a look at this."

No...no, that wasn't what the younger man needed to hear. Words of encouragement, or positive news. Not, 'you better take a look at this.' That was never, ever good. He stopped his pacing, chest tight with worry. He moved to stand next to his brother, chiding himself for being a coward and finally glancing down to what exactly his brother was getting at, something he didn't notice before. One of Naruto's tendrils was in his hand, shriveled slightly with the color darker and dull. But that wasn't the most disturbing part. The end of the small vine almost seemed to be turning pasty white.

He let out a shaky breath. "Itachi, can you hand me a pair of gloves?"

Naruto was quiet as the two helped each other out. Sasuke's covered fingers pressed against the infected part of the vine, which was now firm instead of relaxed. But he did whimper as Sasuke went lower on the vine, near where it first started to come out of the dirt. It ached, very badly. As if it wasn't meant to be touched.

Sasuke had pressed there because as he moved closer to the pot, he noticed the bases of other tendrils were starting to have effect. Although instead of white it was a dark, nasty shade of brown, similar to when bananas expire. As he pressed there, he didn't know whether to be alarmed at how mushy the tissue was, or the hidden cry of pain his lover held back. The botanist grimaced, stomach lurched at the signs. He knew of what this was, immediately.

"It...looks like root rot."

Itachi kneeled closer, inspecting the damage closely. carefully pressing as well and frowning when another whimper erupted. Taking his fingers away the elder man sighed gently, glancing over at the shocked man. "Well, can we get him some pesticides or-"

"That...won't work." Sasuke swallowed a bit, whispering fervently to his brother, not wanting to upset Naruto. "Once a plant shows signs of the rot, it's too late."

"So you're giving up? Just like that?"

"No!" That wasn't the case. He so badly wanted to help Naruto, wanted to take this away. But Itachi didn't understand what was going on between the two. The younger Uchiha knew that it hadn't really sunk in yet. It was hard to believe Naruto even caught root rot,a lthough considering he had been exposed to the heavy rainfall that one time on his office roof, he could guess that's where it first started.But even if he didn't want to believe it, he was afraid that if he tried too hard his efforts would be in vain-- and then the guilt would only increase. He didn't know if he could handle trying to save his little lover and then have him end up dying with all efforts in vain.

And, in all honesty, he didn't know if he even could help. It was true the rot hadn't really progressed yet, but in order to try and treat it, he would have to change to clean soil, which was perfectly fine. But then he also had to cut away the infection. It would have been fine if it was just a normal plant. But Naruto...Naruto felt pain, could feel pain. There was no way he could do so, knowing that his plant-boy would be injured as well.

But, if he didn't, he could die...so what the fuck was he going to do?

"Sasuke..." the blond's soft voice came over his conflicting thoughts, and he pushed them momentarily aside to kneel down next to him, rubbing the pale cheek gently. Those blue eyes opened, hazy eyes boring into his own. "What is...wrong with Naruto?" Though the voice was weak, it was also firm. He could read in between the lines. Naruto wanted to know, and he wanted to know the full extent. No softening the blow.

He took in a deep breath. "Naruto...you have root rot. It's a fungus that's slowly causing your tissue to decay, and your body is trying to fight it off, which can probably explain the fever. With normal sized plants, it would normally take up to ten days...but..."

"Is there...something Sasuke can do?"

"No." The scientist closed his eyes tightly, not wanting to do this. "The treatment may not even work, and it is out of the question-"

"Sasuke.." Itachi frowned quietly, sensing his distress, but continuing anyways. "Naruto...has the right to know."

At that moment, he hated his brother. It was a pointless hate, but it was something to vent his anguish and frustration out on. Bowing his head and trying to find courage to speak. It came out bitter. "The only way that I could possibly save you...is if...I were to remove the infected areas. It would be as if...I would be cutting off part of your body..."

Saying that, he felt foolish. He felt angry at himself, angry at the unchanging laws of nature, angry at those damn little fungi killing off his blond.

There was nothing to say at the moment, the cold impact of the words leaving a disturbed quiet over the three. Naruto, damnit, he actually looked _thoughtful. _There was nothing to think about, there was no way he could agree. Sasuke's fists clenched. Why was his heart pounding so hard? And damnit, why Naruto- he was not supposed to be thinking about this, he was supposed to say no. There was no way...

"I...trust you Sasuke."

His rapid heart seemed to spot at that, and he stared down into those beautiful clear eyes. There was no hesitation or regret. Only...an emotion he knew so well. So very well. He let his fingers loose, and his heart was slowly sinking into the angry pit of his stomach.

"I understand...I have to doa few things then..." he choked, for a second, "Itachi, will you help me?"

A firm nod was his anger, and Sasuke stood up, quickly turning away from the other two presences in the room, heading to go grab the things he could need. He wanted to get this over with quickly. But he excused himself to the bathroom first, knowing that he needed a few moments to stop the tears streaming from his eyes. He could cry now, and after...but he couldn't do it during the surgery. He had to be focused.

And so he cried then instead, so hard to make up for the next few hours.

**--**

-

--

--

**(A/N: Alright guys, this is the part where things get ugly. Yes, Sasuke is going to operate on Naruto. If you can't stand the drama or violence related to...well, amputation, then the chapter ends here. There's actually not much of the actual surgery, but I feel like I should warn you anyways. If you'd like to read it to the end or feel like you can handle it, continue on.)**

--

--

-

--

Naruto blinked quietly, staring at the needle that was currently being stuck into his arm. "What's that?" He asked quietly.

"It's a tranquilizer. I'm afraid I don't have anything for the pain...but this will at least keep you calm and sedate as possible." The needle was carefully pulled out, and Sasuke discarded it on the makeshift tool table, glancing up at Itachi who was ready with gauze and what looked like a large knife. There was a flame lit in the fireplace near them, well in size and ready to serve its purpose.

He glanced quietly down at the large, disinfected and shiny handsaw he had in his hand. And knew if he kept staring at the teeth of the blade, he would be too repulsed to continue. Instead he focused on the root system laid out in front of him, large towels underneath it to help prevent unnecessary mess. He had removed Naruto's pot and soil earlier and sterilized that too, scrubbing it down until he left satisfied there was no more of the contaminated dirt on the pot. He also cleaned off any part of Naruto's body that had been in the dirt, and skin close enough to it.

The new pot, ready with new soil, sat forgotten in the corner of the room now. That part was the easiest. Now, as he stared at the damage of the decay and silently mapping out where he would need to...amputate...he realized this was going to be rough, even if his stoic face didn't show it.

But he couldn't keep the soft look from his face as he leaned over to the blond's head, which was currently resting against a fluffy pillow, gently ruffling his hair and pulling out the last tool they needed. It was a simple piece of cylindracil wood, two ties on each end. "If you feel any pain, you need to...bite down on this, Naru. "

He didn't want to explain, and he was glad no questions came up. His fingers trembled as he slipped the device into the boy's mouth, gently tying it to fit snugly around the boy's face so it held in place. Pulling away from those swimming pools of blue, he heaved out a shaky sigh, glancing over at his brother and relived to see that at least the stoic mask was gone, and he looked genuine concerned and determined to help. "Itachi, put on some gloves. I'll need you to heat up that knife now. Make sure it stays nice and hot."

The man went to to his task and the botanist pulled on his own gloves, amazed that they were so still now even though they wavered seconds ago. He glanced up, a final time, at Naruto, who didn't look frightened at all. Merely..uneasy. But, a smile formed around the gag notheless, and he took that as a sign to continue. There was no going back now.

He took the saw in his hand, silently deciding to start with the smaller roots. Not only would those be easier to treat immediately after, it would...help Naruto ease in. Checking to make sure he had enough towels underneath one last time, he grabbed a random tendril that seemed about as thick as a baseball bat, and placed the edges of the teeth against the imaginary line he knew where to cut.

And with a final breath, he started, rocking the blade back and forth into the tender flesh. He felt something inside him tense as a pained gasp was heard. The tranquilizers had been a good idea in the end, he could almost feel the way the body wanted to thrash. Thick blue blood immediately began pouring from it, but he didn't take the time to study it. Because the vine was so thin, it didn't take him long to get all the way through, and it came away easily, Sasuke immediately placing the now disconnected vine on another cushion of towels nearby.

Itachi had come back just in time, and as he knelt down and brandished the red hot blade he already knew what to do. Without any hesitation, he immediately pressed the flat of the blade against the still bleeding flesh, singing the skin and coaxing it to shut and stop most of the bleeding. The body beneath them twitched in anguish, but it went unnoticed as Itachi set the knife down, satisfied enough to gauze up the wound tight enough to stop the rest of blood flow.

Sasuke wiped a trickle of sweat and his brow and dared a glance up at the suddenly lax body. Those eyes were glazed over and staring up at the ceiling, and from the look of the boy's lips, that bite piece was a damn good idea as well. Better that than accidentally biting off his tongue.

'Well,' Sasuke thought bitterly, placing the blade against the boy's skin once more, 'One down...'

**--TBC--**

Argh, please don't flame me for this. You have NO idea how hard it was for me to write this, I felt so bad. But the idea of changing the facts around so that I wouldn't have to hurt Naru doesn't seem right to me. The treatment of root rot requires infected vines to be cut away. Naruto is a plant. I stayed true to what really happens instead of making up something to 'sugarcoat' the situation.

Anyways...R/R.


	13. Revolution

Sorry to inform you, but this is the last chapter! Hopefully it satisfies any needs and doesn't leave you hanging. I'm always iffy about my endings, but..

Anywhoo, next Monday I'll be updating my newest story! More will be explained when the first chappie is posted.

Until then people...adios!

--

Perhaps the light breathing of the figure now resting was the only thing that kept him sane.

The worst was over Sasuke hoped, now sitting Indian style near the futon where Naruto lay, who was currently passed out from exhaustion and, most likely, pain. The botanist just hoped it was mostly the former that had to do with it. Dark circles were beneath the boy's eyes, clearly expressing the stress he had gone through.

That the raven felt he had caused somehow.

Leaning his head into his hands, he breathed out quietly, staring at the tile floor and trembling slightly, glancing up at the now wrapped up bloody stumps that used to be those curious little vines. He felt guilt wash over him again, and he sighed out deeply. The only positive thing was that Naruto was most likely not going to be sick anymore. Sasuke had been very careful and made sure no stray infected area was left on. That's what he prayed for.

"S...Sasuke.."

The Uchiha lifted his head, glancing over at the tired blue eyes. His stomach clenched instantly at the weak state of the plant boy. Nevertheless, he smiled gently and reached a hand over to gently cup a light green one. "How are you feeling?"

Those eyes traveled around the room briefly, taking it in for a few seconds. "Hurts...and Naruto feels spinny..."

Sasuke nodded, understanding. "You mean dizzy...that'll wear off in a while. I just need you to rest now...ok?" He couldn't do this. He couldn't sit there and pretend to be okay with what he did. He couldn't face his lover and pretend that he was okay with what occurred. He was about to turn and go, but the hand he had cupped instantly grasped around his wrist. The grip was weak, but Sasuke dare not to try and move from it.

"I love Sasuke."

The raven immediately tensed up at the words, turning around to stare wide eyed at the figure below him, unable to believe what he just heard. Surely..."What did you say?"

Naruto stared up at him, looking weak but smiling nonetheless. "Naruto can tell that Sasuke is sad because you had to hurt me. But I am glad. Because I love you, Sasuke. And I don't want to die. I want to live with Sasuke forever."

"...Sasuke loves Naruto too," the human murmured back, subconsciously steeping forward closer to the bed. "So very much..."

"Then don't be sad anymore. And would.." the plant blushed a bit, "would you lay with me for a while?"

And Sasuke did, because he could never deny anything to his blond lover.

--

A week passed since the procedure was done, and that time was spent well by Naruto recuperating and healing. Sasuke was like his private nurse, helping him and getting him whatever he wanted. He even gave the boy some treats like ice cream and chocolate, which went over quite well considering the plant had never had such delicacies.

Today, the botanist decided to check on the wounds and see how they were healing. In the middle of the week he had to change the dirty bandages, but there still wasn't enough healing done on it.

"I'm not hurting you, am I?" He quietly asked as the bandages were peeling away from the dry blood and skin. Naruto shook his head in response, watching as well. Sasuke exhaled sharply as the last of the material fell away, exposing the area. The tissue was starting to heal well, but they both could see that wasn't the major part of their problem.

The dark tips of Naruto's stubby vines said otherwise.

Sasuke couldn't peel his eyes away from the obviously infected area, his blood slowly turning cold. God damnit, the root rot wasn't gone. Somehow Naruto was still infected.

They were silent for a long time, evaluating the situation. It was Naruto who lifted his gaze and stared quietly at the other. "Sasuke, should...should we-"

"No." He already knew what was going to be asked. "I'm not...doing it again. I can't."

There was a tense silence. "I..understand, Sasuke." Shuddering, the plant boy took a breath, laying against the pillow once more. There was nothing more to be said. Shortly, the human climbed onto him, pressing tender nips to the light green throat exposed. The blond tilted his head and shared a kiss, exploring that very familiar mouth he had grown to love. How he would miss it if things were to...

Suddenly, something wet landed on his cheek. Opening his eyes, he watched quietly as the raven was..crying. For him? Did he really mean that much? That alone made him cheer up a bit, made him press a kiss to the upset man.

"It will be alright, Sasuke."

The young botanist shook his head, not able to say with words the doubt he had. But Naruto chose to ignore that, rather taking the time to soothe him, pressing closely to the other and curling up on their bed. While the Uchiha lay there in his chest, the plant boy's mind wandered. He would most likely die very soon. And right after life had just begun for him. He had wanted to spend so much time with Sasuke, doing things couples did and living a life with him. Though the plant didn't know how long he himself lived. Perhaps he was only destined to live for a year longer, maybe less. But even at least one more day would have meant something. Meant the world to him.

'I...do not want to die,' Naruto thought quietly to himself, gently caressing the dark locks resting on his shoulder now, the human slowly being lulled to sleep by his lover's breathing. 'Not now. Not like this. Can't I...live with Sasuke forever? That's all I want.."

Though Sasuke had succumbed to sleep, for Naruto it couldn't come. He laid there in bed, enjoying the feel of skin pressed to his own, or how the man next to him smelled very good. He wondered about life if he could live longer, and thought about things they could have done. He liked this warm feeling that bubbled in his chest. Love. He wanted to feel it more. Experience it more.

But then there was something else, something else he could feel. It was the dark feeling of knowing death was about to come. The sickness inside him could almost be felt like a live animal, slowly creeping up to engulf him and smother the fire of his life out.

It was already beginning.

--

The sunlight pried its way between Sasuke's closed eyes, helping him rouse from sleep. He shifted, wanting to press closer into the bed and his lover, not ready to wake up yet. But then as his mind caught up slowly, he realized something. Pulling his head up for a second, he glanced at the empty side of the bed. Breath caught in his throat, he glanced over at the other strange thing.

Naruto's pot was there, not no sign of the plant. Most of the dirt was now on the floor, and some trailed off towards the door.

Where was Naruto?

"N-Naru??" He called out, immediately awake and pushing himself out of bed. Something dark gripped his chest as he ran out of the greenhouse and outside, eyes not able to catch any distinguishable dirt from the grass. Fuck. Where had he gone?

Suddenly he heard something. Someone...laughing? Quietly he made his way to the front yard, heading towards the source. When he rounded the corner of his house, he could see what was going on.

There in the middle of the lawn sat Naruto, grinning from ear to ear and leaning back onto his arms to catch some early morning rays. But something was amiss. Next to the boy was his long, snake body. But it looked no more than an empty snake skin, the boy no longer connected to it at all. Rather below his very nude waist was two long tan legs. In fact, his whole skin was flushed with a healthy cinnamon color.

And suddenly it hit the other male.

"Naruto?"

The nude boy turned towards him, flashing him a beautiful rosy smile. "Sasuke!" The happy boy chirped, getting up and not seeming to care he was bare for all the world to see. "Look! Sasuke!"

Suddenly the raven had an armful of birthday suit boyfriend, causing him to fall on his back, the body above him laughing with joy. He could feel those strong legs pressed up against him, and it suddenly made him laugh as well, cupping the boy's head and pressing them together.

"Naruto...you're...you're human." The raven haired male pressed a kiss to a golden temple, feeling yet another tear slip out. But that was shed for happiness, and Naruto was there, alive him him, happy to wipe it away and press closer, to reassure that this was real and it was eternity.

--FIN--


End file.
